Very Practical Magic

Master easy spellcraft. Written by Nicola Kelleher, this collection of spells is perfect for creating positive spells quickly and easily with everyday items around the home. This modern take on witchcraft will allow the reader to explore spellcraft and positive affirmations whilst learning about the world of witchcraft without the need of specialist tools. The book contains around 40 spells and offers insight into the properties of oils, candles and crystals. Each spell is fun and easy to perform and includes simple instructions. This book is designed to whet the appetite of would-be witches which should allow the reader to continue to build their own positive spells for future use.

Vi and Vincent the Jibber Jabbers

Amy’s off to get a vaccine today but her big brother isn’t impressed, as he wanted to stay home and play. But suddenly the vaccine starts talking to him – and him alone. Join us for a stimulating and enthralling journey to discover just how vaccines work and how they can keep so many of us safe and healthy.

Vicky’s Ditties

Vicky’s Ditties is a collection of hilarious anecdotes written by a gutsy and sometimes audacious Yorkshire lass with a wicked sense of humour.

They take you on a journey from her youth, feeding laxative chocolates to scrounging kids in the park, and through her varied careers, starting with working in a pet shop, to becoming a qualified driving instructor and latterly running a farmhouse B&B with the love of her life, Dave, who was blessed with exactly the same larger-than-life personality.

If you want a giggle, this book is a must!

Voodoo Politics

The lives of four unrelated people are caught up in changing events as Haiti is again racked by corruption and violence during a few days of a brutal struggle for power and regime change.

A fast-paced novel that covers the tragic impact on a poor Haitian boy and his family who fight to survive in a world of unbelievable violence. A visiting businessman is kidnapped for ransom whilst an indulgent Catholic Bishop has to face his own demons and a dedicated local priest pays a heavy price. These seemingly unrelated events are initiated by a sadistic Haitian security officer whose own world gradually falls apart.

Whilst all this unfolds Miami based drug cartels are determined to maintain their supply lines through Haiti from an unlikely alliance with the CIA. This is unknown to the US State Department and other well-meaning but conflicted international organisations during this period of confusion, chaos and violence.

Vorclaw

Spurred on by the unexpected loss of his wife, the military officer Baltus Blackpool plans to enact his revenge by dismantling the decadent ruling council of Vorclaw by building his own cult—The Black Masks! Meanwhile, his son Dru bonds with others and delves into a less respectable career path that his father is forced to embrace. 

Magnus Foehammer, the infallible right hand of Baltus, rears an orphaned elf he names Leif. The elf, raised as a human alongside his adopted brother Bjorn, has no memory of his past but has an uncanny propensity towards good. 

Leif and Bjorn bond with Dru Blackpool and all three follow their own fathers’ footsteps into the army. However, they get caught up in Baltus Blackpool’s plans to overtake the Vorclaw while falling into their own misfortunes involving deceit, magic and a quest to save Leif from the vampiress and her arch-goblin hoards! 

Voyager

In this charming story with illustrations, best friends Tod (a red squirrel), Freddie (a dormouse) and Jed (a water rat) decide to build a raft to sail on the lake they live beside. The name of the raft? ‘Voyager’.

A story to capture the hearts of children and entice them into a world of lakeside adventures.

Voyager

This poetry anthology provides reflections on a variety of topics ranging from nature, family, and transformative experiences. The experiences contained are not earth-shattering or unique, but everyday stories that could be told by everybody. Heather Riches has encapsulated these in a thoughtful but respectful way, and they will strike a chord with all who absorb them.

Waiting For Alfie

As he looked up, he saw a sailor in uniform with a hat that had a white star above the peak. He tried to make sense of it in the darkness, but it was futile. However, he did notice the same sailor had a long, jagged scar on his right cheek. Holding out his weather-beaten hand to steady him, the sailor watched as he staggered; observing everything around him, it was then that he realised he was one of only a few saved that night…

Waiting For...

This charming illustrated book of verse outlines many real and imaginary ways that a cat will spend its time waiting for things to happen.

Cat lovers, of all ages, will be able to recognise their pets in many of the situations described in this book.

Watch out for:
Waiting For… (Part Two)

Waiting in the Wings

Completely without any professional qualifications, Brian Hutchinson had 31 different jobs during a long working life. From acrobat to special advisor to a cabinet minister; all completely unplanned through opportunity knocks! Brian (Hutch) Hutchinson: Acrobat, Musician (Sax/Clarinet), one of the youngest Justices of the Peace at Inner London Juvenile Courts, Civil Servant, Special Advisor to Cabinet Minister, Music Business Executive, Theatrical Agent, Recording Studio Partner, Record Factory MD, Director Brixton Business Centre, Board Member Brixton City Challenge, General Manager on secondment The Princess Diana Memorial Fund, Patron Macmillan Academy Teesside, Independent Assessor for Commissioner for (Ministerial) Public Appointments, Corporate Affairs Director Allied Zurich Plc, Chair UK Trustees International Fund for Animal Welfare, Former Trustee National Centre for Circus Arts. Taken out of school at 15 years old to join my Father’s troupe of acrobats on tour with Boswell’s Circus in Southern Africa; I was untrained as an acrobat and learned the basics on the two weeks’ boat journey from Southampton to Cape Town. I also played alto Sax and Clarinet in the circus band. I guess I’m an entrepreneur; it was easier in the 1950s–1970s to succeed without formal qualifications such as a university degree or even a couple of A Levels. I was also one of the youngest JPs in the Inner London Juvenile Courts thanks to advice from the Master of then Rolls and support from Lady (Elspeth) Howe.

Walking With Dad

Join a father and his little one as they walk together along the coastline. See if you can count all of the interesting things they pass along the way! A counting book with a difference for young readers accompanied by delightful illustrations.

Wanaka

Hound has a particularly strong sense of smell. He can smell the memories of people and can smell them so strongly in fact that they appear before him as if something real and touchable. In these memories, Hound can walk and talk with the ghosts of people’s past, and—this is the important part—he can make changes, both big and small, wherever he wishes. He may direct someone left instead of right, say something that had not been said before, or even remove a person or event that had bothered the memory keeper.

Men pay Hound to kill their ghosts—to destroy some of their most burdensome memories. They pay him handsomely for his services.

Recently, though, Hound has grown tired of murdering the ghosts of rich, well-to-do men. The violence has taken its toll. He is tired and wants nothing more than to settle down. He wants a simple life, freed from men’s violent histories.

He is tired of being alone with his smells. He needs a friend, someone he can talk to and confide in.

And then one day, he meets Jesse, a man with many ghosts, and together, they form a lasting, and unique, friendship in beautiful Wanaka, New Zealand.